Method and apparatus for removing the reserve winding of yarn coils



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 W. KUPPER Dec. 6, 1966 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REMOVING THE RESERVE WINDING OF YARN COILS Filed July 9, 1964 FIG] Dec. 6, 1966 w. KUPFER 3,289,958

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REMOVING THE RESERVE WINDING OF YARN COILS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 9, 1964 United States Patent 3,289,958 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REMOVING THE RESERVE WINDHNG 0F YARN CGILS Wilhelm Knpper, Rickeirath, Kreis Erkeienz, Germany,

assignor to Walter Rainer-s, Monchen-Gladbach, Germany Filed July 9, 1954, Ser. No. 381,340 Claims priority, appiication Germany, July 15, 1963, R 35,750 12 Claims. (Cl. 24235.6)

My invention relates to method and apparatus for removing the reserve winding of yarn coils and more particularly to an apparatus employing a mechanical gripping device adapted to remove both the reserve winding at the tip and at the foot of a yarn coil.

In order to remove the reserve winding of yarn coils, such as the tip bunch of spinning cops, for example, it has been known to use a mechanical gripper which is in the shape of a bar hook or claw and which strips the reserve winding off the coil core by moving in the axial direction of the core. In the course of the widthdrawing motion of the hook, it seizes the tip bunch or winding and draws it off the coil core. A known method and apparatus for performing the above-mentioned operation is shown and described in Patent No. 2,685,413 to Walter Reiners, the assignee of the instant application.

As these known grippers or claws are being moved in an axial direction so that they may engage the reserve winding from the rear, due to insufficient clearance between the claw and the reserve winding, it is possible that the claw might brush against the reserve winding and the reserve winding may then be shoved by the claw or gripper device in a direction toward the main winding of the coil so that the hook-shaped gripping means of the device can not move back at all over the reserve winding and consequently cannot grip the reserve winding in order to draw it off the coil core. For the known device to have trouble-free operation, it is necessary that the reserve winding possess'a specific force of adhesion to the coil core so that it cannot be shifted in the aforementioned manner.

In order to avoid the disadvantages of the aforementioned known device, mechanical claws or grippers have also become known that are constructed in the form of pincers or pliers which are passed over the reserve winding in the axial direction of the coil core in their open condition in which the jaws of the pincer are spaced from one another, and are closed only after they are behind the reserve winding so as to grip the winding from the rear and draw it off. Gripping tools of this type are, however, quite complicated and subject to malfunction.

It is accordingly an object of my invention to provide method and apparatus for removing the reserve winding of yarn coils which will avoid the aforementioned disadvantages of the known methods and apparatuses.

With this end in View I provide a mechanical gripping device which is placed between the reserve winding and the main winding of the yarn coil by the movement thereof in a radial direction with respect to the coil core, and then the reserve Winding is drawn oif by means of the movement of the mechanical gripping device in an axial direction relative to the coil core. Consequently, the above-described disadvantages are avoided, since the mechanical gripping device is not passed over the reserve winding in an axial direction with respect to the coil core. Only after the gripping device engages the yarn coil core between the reserve winding and the main winding, is the winding from the coil core then stripped off by means of a movement of the device in an axial direction relative to the core.

3,289,958 Patented Dec. 6, 1%66 According to another feature of my invention, I provide a gripping device which is similar to a clamp and which is movable in a radial direction to a position between the reserve winding and the main winding, and is movable in the axial direction of the core.

In the devices heretofore known for removingthe reserve winding from coil cores, the core was rigidly jammed onto a mandrel or the main yarn winding was brought up against a stop or abutment in order to hold the core tightly while the drawing-off movement of the reserve winding is taking place, that is, thereby prevent the coil from also moving in the axial direction. In accordance with my invention, therefore, I provide a stop or abutment in front of the core end which can advantageously take up the force opposing the drawing-off motion of the reserve winding.

In removing the reserve winding, it is known either to construct the drawing-off mechanism itself as a suction nozzle or to locate a suction nozzle in the vicinity of the drawing-off mechanism. The suction nozzle entrains the reserve winding that has been stripped oil the core in order to prevent the free yarn end from becoming entangled with other machine components.

In the device according to my invention a suction nozzle is located in front of the core end. It is particularly advantageous when the suction nozzle simultaneously provides the function of the aforedescribed stop or abutment element that should be located in front of the core end, that is, when the suction nozzle simultaneously serves as a stop or abutment means.

In order to prevent an undesirably great length of yarn from being drawn 011? the yarn coil by the suction device, it is advantageous to place a device for securely clamping the yarn in the path of the yarn. This yarn clamping device can consist of an inwardly narrowing slot, for example, into which the yarn is drawn due to a movement of the suction tube, a movement of the yarn coil or by being conveyed in the air current. According to my invention it is especially advantageous to employ a locking yarn clamping device which locks or closes shortly after the reserve winding is stripped off the core. It is of further advantage, and another feature of my invention, to construct the yarn clamp so that it serves the simultaneous purpose of a suction nozzle shutter or closure means.

Other features which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth in the appended claims.

Although the invention has been illustrated and described as method and apparatus for removing the reserve winding from yarn coils, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.

The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view partly in section of a device for carrying out the method of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of FIG. 1 taken along the lines IIII in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of another embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view partly broken away, of the yarn clamping device in the embodiment of FIG. 3.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a clamp-like gripping device 1 having a pair of gripping arms 1a, 1b, that are biased toward one another by a spring 2, while a maximum spacing between the gripper arms is adjustable by means of an adjusting screw 3. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a spinning cop 4 is passed, from the position shown in phantom by the dot and dash lines at 4 to the solid line position between the outwardly bent clamping arms 1a, 1b, against the yielding biasing force of the spring 2 so that these clamping arms extend in the radial direction of the core and grip the coil core 6 behind the reserve winding 5. From the position shown in FIG. 1 the gripping device 1 is drawn upwardly by a hydraulic cylinder 7 which is suitably actuated manually or by any known automatic means (not shown) so that the reserve winding is stripped off the tip of the core 6. The winding is then entrained by a suction nozzle 8. As is seen particularly in FIG. 2, the suction nozzle 8 has an oval cross section construction so that the clamping arms 1a, 1b can laterally slide past the suction nozzle 8. Furthermore, it is clear from FIG. 2 that the clamping arms 1a, 1b are so constructed that they engage the core 6 at at least four points in order to provide a sure means for drawing ofl the reserve winding 5. When stripping the reserve winding 5 ofi the tip of the core 6, the spinning cop 4 can either be raised by the gripping device 1 until the tip of the core 6 abuts against the suction nozzle 8 or the cop can be gripped by suitable gripping means at the foot of the core so as to hold the cop stationary or the gripping means at the core foot can in fact, be movable downwardly away from the gripping device 1 so as to thereby strip the reserve winding 5 from the core tip 6.

In FIG. 3 there is shown another embodiment of the apparatus constructed in accordance with my invention which provides for the spinning cops to be passed in a vertical position to the gripping device. The spinning cops, 4, 4a, 4b are passed between the arms of the clamplike gripping device 1 On a fixed base 9 in the shape of a circular magazine, for example, such as is shown and described in application No. 355,585 of Stefan Fiirst, filed March 30, 1964, and in my copending application No. 357,705, filed April 6, 1964. An opening 9a is provided in the fixed base 9 beneath the gripping device 1 through which the coil 4 can fall downwardly and out of the magazine. Initially, it is not possible for the coil to fall out of the magazine, since the coil is held by the gripping device 1. As soon as the coil 4 hangs securely in the gripping device 1, a feeler arm 10 is actuated to close an electric contact which in turn closes a circuit which energizes the electromagnet 12 from a current source 11. Electromagnet 12 pulls the movable iron core therein downwardly as shown in FIG. 3 so that a triple armed lever 13a, 13b, 13c is caused to swing counterclockwise about the pivot shaft 13d which is fixed to a supporting pedestal. The gripping device 1 is accordingly raised upwardly and the core 6 of the coil 4 accordingly abuts against the suction nozzle 8 which is constructed so as-to serve also as a stop member, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, so that the reserve winding 5 is stirpped off the core. With the swinging motion of the three-armed lever, however, as shown in enlarged view in FIG. 4, a shutter or closure means 14 for the suction nozzle 8 serving also as a clamping device is opened so that the stripped off reserve' winding can be :sucked into the suction nozzle 8.

After the gripping device 1 has removed the reserve winding from the core 6, the core 6 is no longer held by the gripping device so that the coil 4 can fall through the opening 9a in a downward direction. It consequently drops to the position 4" shown in phantom by the dot and dash lines in FIG.- 3. Consequently the feeler arm 10 can now swing in a counterclockwise direction due to the absence of a coil in the location below the clamping device 1, so that the circuit for the magnet 12 is opened. At the same time, the three-armed lever 13, for example under the biasing action of a non-illustrated spring, swings backwardly in the clockwise direction so that the yarn clamp 14 assumes the position illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, clamps the yarn that has been sucked into the nozzle 8 and simultaneppsly closes the nozzle 8.

I claim:

1. Method for removing from yarn coils having a core a reserve winding located on an end of the core and axially spaced along the core from a main winding thereon, which comprises moving a mechanical gripper with pincer-like arms and a yarn coil relative to each other in a direction radial to the coil core so that the arms of the gripper are located at diametrically opposite points of the coil core intermediate the reserve winding and main winding of the coil, and moving said gripper and the yarn coil relative to each other substantially in the axial direction of the core for entraining the reserve winding and stripping it off the core.

2. Method for removing from yarn coils having a core a reserve winding located on an end of the core and axially spaced along the core from a main winding thereon, which comprises moving a vertically oriented yarn coil in a substantially horizontal direction between the pincerlike arms of a substantially horizontally disposed mechanical gripper so that the arms of the gripper grip said yarn coil at diametrically opposite points of the coil core intermediate the reserve winding and main winding of the coil, moving said gripper and the yarn coil in a substantially vertical direction, and limiting the movement of the yarn coil while continuing the movement of said gripper whereby the reserve winding is entrained by said gripper and is stripped ofi? the coil core.

3. Apparatus for removing from yarn coils having a core the reserve winding located on an end of the core and axially spaced along the core from a main winding thereon, comprising a mechanical gripper having pincerlike arms, means for moving said gripper, and a yarn coil relative to each other in a direction radial to the coil core to a position in which a portion of the coil core intermediate the reserve winding and the main winding of the yarn coil is located between the gripper arms, and means for moving said gripper and the yarn coil relative to each other substantially in the axial direction of the coil core so that the reserve winding is entrained by said gripper arms and is stripped off the core.

4. Apparatus for removing from yarn coils having a core the reserve Winding located on an end of the core and axially spaced along the core from a main winding thereon, comprising a mechanical gripper having pincerlike arms, means for moving said gripper and a yarn coil relative to each other in a direction radial to the coil core to a position in which a portion of the coil core intermediate the reserve winding and the main winding of the yarn coil is located between the gripper arms, means for moving said gripper and the yarn coil relative to each other substantially in the axial direction of the coil core so that the reserve winding is entrained by said gripper arms and is stripped off the core, and abutment means located in front of the core end of the yarn coil for limiting axial movement of the yarn coil as the reserve winding is being stripped olf the core.

5. Apparatus for removing from yarn coils having a core the reserve winding located on an end of the core and axially spaced along the core from a main winding thereon, comprising a mechanical gripper having pincer like arms, means for moving said gripper and a yarn coil relative to each other in a direction radial to the coil core to a position in which a portion of the coil core intermediate the reserve winding and the main winding of the yarn coil is located between the gripper arms, means for moving said gripper and the yarn coil relative to each other substantially in the axial direction of the coil core so that the reserve winding is entrained by said gripper arms and is stripped ofr the core, and suction nozzle means located in front of the core end of the yarn coil for drawing in the reserve Winding stripped off the core.

6. Apparatus for removing from yarn coils having a core the reserve winding located on an end of the core and axially spaced along the core from a main Winding thereon, comprising a mechanical gripper having pincerlike arms, means for moving said gripper, and a yarn coil relative to each other in a direction radial to the coil core to a position in which a portion of the coil core intermediate the reserve winding and the main winding of the yarn coil is located between the gripper arms, means for moving said gripper and the yarn coil relative to each other substantially in the axial direction of the coil core so that the reserve winding is entrained by said gripper arms and is stripped off the core, suction nozzle means located in front of the core end of the yarn coil for drawing the yarn reserve winding stripped off the core along a path into said nozzle and clamping means located in the path of the reserve winding yarn for clamping the yarn.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 including means for actuating said clamping means to clamp the yarn after the reserve winding has been stripped off the core.

8. Apparatus for removing from yarn coils having a core the reserve winding located on an end of the core and axially spaced along the core from a main winding thereon, comprising a mechanical gripper having pincerlike arms, means for moving said gripper and a yarn coil relative to each other in a direction radial to the coil core to a position in which a portion of the coil core intermediate the reserve winding and the main winding of the yarn coil is located between the gripper arms, means for moving said gripper and the yarn coil relative to each other substantially in the axial direction of the coil core so that the reserve winding is entrained by said gripper arms and is stripped oil the core, a suction nozzle having a nozzle opening located in front of the core end of the yarn coil for drawing the yarn reserve winding stripped off the core along a path through said opening of said nozzle, and clamping means located in the path of the reserve winding yarn and movable transversely to said yarn path for clamping the yarn against a surface of said suction nozzle means and simultaneously closing off said suction nozzle opening.

9. Apparatus for removing from yarn coils having a core the reserve winding located on an end of the core and axially spaced along the core from a main winding thereon, comprising a mechanical gripper having pincerlike arms, means for moving said gripper and a yarn coil relative to each other, in a direction radial to the coil core to a position in which a portion of the coil core intermediate the reserve winding and the main winding of the yarn coil is located between the gripper arms, means for moving said gripper and the yarn coil relative to each other substantially in the axial direction of the coil core so that the reserve winding is entrained by said gripper arms and is stripped off the core, and a fixed suction nozzle located in front of the core end of the yarn coil for drawing in the stripped off reserve winding, said nozzle having an abutment surface engageable by the core end for limiting axial movement of the yarn coil as the reserve winding is being stripped off the core.

1i). Apparatus according to claim 8 wherein said clamping means comprises a plate member movable in a transverse slot formed in said suction nozzle into engagement with an inner surface of said nozzle for clamping the yarn against said surface and for simultaneously blocking the suction in said nozzle from said nozzle openmg.

11. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said means for moving said gripper and the yarn coil relative to each other in the axial direction of the coil core comprises a hydraulic cylinder having a piston secured to said gripper and movable in said cylinder in the axial direction of the coil core.

12. Apparatus according to claim 3 wherein said means for moving said gripper and the yarn coil relative to each other in the axial direction of the coil core comprises an electromagnetically pivotable lever rigid with said gripper means and operative in response to the presence of a yarn coil between the arms of said gripper means for moving said gripper means substantially in the axial direction of the coil core.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,039,547 9/1912 Koechlin 139--257 1,321,275 11/1919 Barrell l39257 X 2,208,930 7/1940 Kahlisch 242-35.6 2,685,413 8/1954 Reiners 242-356 2,954,058 9/1960 Cugini et al l39257 X 2,956,593 10/1960 Baumann l39257 3,136,494 6/1964 Furst 242-35.6 3,153,513 10/1964 Furst et a1. 24235.6

STANLEY N. GILREATH, Primary Examiner. 

3. APPARATUS FOR REMOVING FROM YARN COILS HAVING A CORE THE RESERVE WINDING LOCATED ON AN END OF THE CORE AND AXIALLY SPACED ALONG THE CORE FROM A MAIN WINDING THEREON, COMPRISING A MECHANICAL GRIPPER HAVING PINCERLIKE ARMS, MEANS FOR MOVING SAID GRIPPER, AND YARN COIL RELATIVE TO EACH OTHER IN A DIRECTION RADIAL TO THE COIL CORE TO A POSITION IN WHICH A PORTION OF THE COIL CORE INTERMEDIATE THE RESERVE WINDING AND THE MAIN WINDING OF THE YARN COIL IS LOCATED BETWEEN THE GRIPPING ARMS, AND MEANS FOR MOVING SAID GRIPPER AND THE YARN COIL RELATIVE TO EACH OTHER SUBSTANTIALLY IN THE AXIAL DIRECTION OF THE COIL CORE SO THAT THE RESERVE WINDING IS ENTRAINED BY SAID GRIPPER ARMS AND IS STRIPPED OFF THE CORE. 